WHO
WE ARE
STAFF
Wendy McDermott
Executive Director
Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
Brown’s Canyon and west faces of the Sawatch Range and Cochetopa Hills
Adam provides leadership and supervision over strategic, programmatic and financial operations that support the Conservancy’s conservation programs. He holds a PhD in Human Dimensions of Natural Resources from Colorado State University (2011), and has over 23 years of collaborative conservation experience in the Rocky Mountain West and abroad (South Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Niger, Ghana). Adam is an avid mountain biker, backcountry snowboarder and alpine enthusiast.
Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
anywhere in the alpine on the Sawatch range
Wendy has a deep background in land and water management policies and practices and is experienced in collaborating with diverse interests on complicated resource management issues. Prior to joining Central Colorado Conservancy in 2022, Wendy was the Northwest Regional Director for American Rivers in Bellingham, WA; the River Program Director for the San Juan Citizens Alliance in Durango, CO; and the Executive Director for the High Country Citizens’ Alliance in Crested Butte, CO.
Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
Agricultural Projects Manager
Natalie Allio
Adam provides leadership and supervision over strategic, programmatic and financial operations that support the Conservancy’s conservation programs. He holds a PhD in Human Dimensions of Natural Resources from Colorado State University (2011), and has over 23 years of collaborative conservation experience in the Rocky Mountain West and abroad (South Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Niger, Ghana). Adam is an avid mountain biker, backcountry snowboarder and alpine enthusiast.
Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
anywhere in the alpine on the Sawatch range
The focus of Natalie’s work is “keeping working lands working” through innovative and collaborative programs with Central Colorado Conservancy and the Upper Arkansas Conservation District. Drawing on her own experience in agriculture and her education in Ecopsychology and Collaborative Solutions in Natural Resources, Natalie leads innovative and collaborative programs that support water quality, water quantity and soil health in the Upper Arkansas Watershed.
Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado: pretty much any place that can be accessed from the back of a horse
Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
Brown’s Canyon and west faces of the Sawatch Range and Cochetopa Hills
Bryce Howe
Conservation Program Manager
Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
Brown’s Canyon and west faces of the Sawatch Range and Cochetopa Hills
Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
Brown’s Canyon and west faces of the Sawatch Range and Cochetopa Hills
Membership Coordinator
Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
Brown’s Canyon and west faces of the Sawatch Range and Cochetopa Hills
Adam provides leadership and supervision over strategic, programmatic and financial operations that support the Conservancy’s conservation programs. He holds a PhD in Human Dimensions of Natural Resources from Colorado State University (2011), and has over 23 years of collaborative conservation experience in the Rocky Mountain West and abroad (South Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Niger, Ghana). Adam is an avid mountain biker, backcountry snowboarder and alpine enthusiast.
Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
anywhere in the alpine on the Sawatch range
Buffy coordinates our collaborative watershed restoration projects. She holds a BS in Conservation Biology from Middlebury College and a Master’s degree in Ecology from Colorado State University. She and her husband served in the Peace Corps in Mexico, conserving the natural resources of the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve. They are raising three daughters who love to camp, ski and paddle board--and hope to grow deep roots in the Arkansas River Valley.
Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
the combination of many wonderful places like O'Haver Lake, Fooses Creek, Mt. Princeton Hot Springs, any aspen grove...
Buffy Lenth
Watershed Restoration Specialist
Adam provides leadership and supervision over strategic, programmatic and financial operations that support the Conservancy’s conservation programs. He holds a PhD in Human Dimensions of Natural Resources from Colorado State University (2011), and has over 23 years of collaborative conservation experience in the Rocky Mountain West and abroad (South Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Niger, Ghana). Adam is an avid mountain biker, backcountry snowboarder and alpine enthusiast.
Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
anywhere in the alpine on the Sawatch range
Bryce works with landowners on conservation easements and manages the Arkansas River Community Preserve properties. Bryce was born and raised in western Colorado. After receiving a degree in fish and wildlife ecology at Montana State University, he worked throughout the Northern Rockies for different state and federal agencies, including the U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service. Most recently he was working for a land trust based in the old-growth forests of Northern California. As Conservation Program Manager, he brings his experience in landscape ecology and love for the mountains of Colorado to the management of conservation easements and growing conservation efforts of the Central Colorado Conservancy.
Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
Adam provides leadership and supervision over strategic, programmatic and financial operations that support the Conservancy’s conservation programs. He holds a PhD in Human Dimensions of Natural Resources from Colorado State University (2011), and has over 23 years of collaborative conservation experience in the Rocky Mountain West and abroad (South Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Niger, Ghana). Adam is an avid mountain biker, backcountry snowboarder and alpine enthusiast.
Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
anywhere in the alpine on the Sawatch range
As membership coordinator, Julie is the first person to get to know you at the Conservancy. Her work with the Land Trust of the Upper Arkansas began in the spring of 2013. She is from Kansas City where she grew up, raised her children, was a board member and volunteered with Wildwood Outdoor Education Center, and was an elementary teacher for over 25 years. In 2003, she assumed the role of director at the girl’s camp, High Trails Ranch, Sanborn Western Camps in Florissant, CO for the next 10 years.
Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
looking out her front window, sunrises, sunsets, stars and exploring around Salida
Julie Richardson
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
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Favorite Place(s)
in Central Colorado:
Brown’s Canyon and west faces of the Sawatch Range and Cochetopa Hills
Robert Tallmadge
President
Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
Favorite Place(s)
in Central Colorado:
the view from the top of Mt. Elbert when the aspens are changing, the swimming beach by Rincon and the view of the Collegiates from Trout Creek Pass
Hallie Mahowald
Board Member
Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
Favorite Place(s)
in Central Colorado:
anywhere the birds can be heard unobstructed by the sounds of civilization high up in the Sawatch Range
Gina Peters
Board Member
Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
anywhere in the unroaded backcountry that has fish and elk
Favorite Place(s)
in Central Colorado:
anywhere along the Continental Divide Trail
Rob White
Secretary
Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
Favorite Place(s)
in Central Colorado:
Penitente Canyon grabs my heart—climbing, hiking, forest, desert, night-sky camping and cultural history
John McGowan
Treasurer
Favorite Place(s) in Central Colorado:
anywhere in the unroaded backcountry that has fish and elk
Favorite Place(s)
in Central Colorado:
anywhere in the unroaded backcountry that has
fish and elk
Miles Cottom
Board Member
